Salvador Mercer - Lunar Discovery

Vlad nodded though his superior could not see the gesture. “Understood, sir. We’ll have to wait, then, and wish our real heroes well.”

Dmitry comprehended immediately. “Yes, they will be very busy soon, and we expect nothing short of perfection on this. We’ll have the video lines installed by the time they reach the moon.”

“Yes, I know,” Vlad responded. Vlad knew they had the ability to teleconference already, but Moscow had implemented a new security protocol that required the laying of special optic fiber wires that in the past had been considered blasé, to say the least. Wireless communicating, as well as cloud storage of data and information, had been all the rage for at least two decades now, but in a world of serious hacking, it was back to some old school technology, and Vlad’s base was being connected to an older fiber optic system that connected directly to Moscow. It would be impossible to intercept.

“Good. Pass on our congratulations to your crew and let them know they have done well. We’ll talk again tomorrow,” Dmitry said.

“I will, Dmitry, and our congratulations to you and the mission team there as well.”

Dmitry hung up the phone, severing the connection so only static came over the radio phone.

“Well, what was that all about?” Alex asked, his face screwed up into a tight ball, brow furrowed.

Vlad almost laughed. “I don’t know, Alex, but it seems our competition may have the lead but they won’t cross the finish line anytime soon.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No, I’m not. It appears our efforts may not have been in vain. We may indeed reach the moon’s surface first.” Vlad nodded and smiled at his chief engineer.

“Interesting. I wonder what could have happened to the Chinese cosmonaut?”

“I wonder as well, my friend,” Alex said.

People’s Republic Space Command

Beijing, China

In the near future, Day 44

“Pull the manual lever up and secure it before pressing the ‘separate’ button,” Chong said from his console at Wencheng.

Hun watched as Sing recharged the lander’s separation device manually, pushing the handle several times in quick succession and then locking it into place and hitting the button that would normally detach it and allow him to pilot it to the moon’s surface. Sing pressed it several times and then recharged yet again before repeating the process without instruction from Chong.

“Is it possible to detach from outside the module?” Lin asked Chong through their newly established video connection.

“Not without the correct tool,” Chong said.

“Someone’s going to ask,” Chon said from next to Lin.

“Who would have thought we’d have two failures in the same system?” Chong said, a slight tone of defensiveness in his voice.

Hun knew that as the chief mechanical engineer for this mission, the military would place a large amount of blame on Chong, and by extension his feet, despite the fact that they weren’t responsible for the actual construction of the lunar lander. Both the automatic release and the manual lever had malfunctioned, and the explosive bolts didn’t fire either. In that regard, Hun considered it more of a triple failure.

“Mission control, did you copy my last transmission?” Sing said, and Hun lifted his mike a bit higher to respond.

“That’s affirmative, Crimson Glory , we copy. Standby while we troubleshoot.” Hun clicked his mike off and looked at Lin. “Is the signal strength still the same on all wavelengths?”

Lin looked at her computer from her desk in front of Hun’s. “Yes, all readings have been the same with the peak readings occurring during perigee above the device. Those readings are at least eighty percent higher than we calculated.”

“They don’t exceed the shielding threshold, though they come close at their highest point,” Chon added from his desk next to Lin’s.

Hun thought about that for a moment. They couldn’t blame the device nor its odd transmissions for the detachment failure, and a triple one at that. The entire docking operation had been a resounding success as Sing’s craft, the Crimson Glory , docked with the first module that had been launched two days prior containing the primary energy source and fuel pods. Sing’s craft had been operating on only battery power, and Hun was sure the mission would be seriously criticized if something had happened during the three-day transit to shut down the power on the Crimson Glory .

Once coupled, the decaying plutonium reactor on the energy pod would provide more than enough power to not only recharge the command module but to also provide for a longer mission profile, if necessary. They would run out of food and water before they did power.

“Chong, look at the schematics again and find Sing a way to separate the lander,” Hun said, adjusting his headphones.

“Good thing we doubled the shielding,” Lin said.

Hun nodded and then opened his mike again to the Crimson Glory . “How you doing up there, Colonel Sing?”

Hun could see Sing’s image starting to fill with static as the spaceship orbited within range of the alien device. Each orbit was taking just under two hours, and Hun and his crew literally held their breaths each time Sing was exposed to the device.

“I feel like I’m in a microwave getting cooked,” Sing said, his smile just visible as he spoke, and the connection worsened.

“That may not be far from the truth. Our engineers are working on the problem, Colonel. Standby and we’ll advise before the next orbit.” Hun nodded again, and Sing started to prime the lever yet again. The man will not give up, that much is for sure , Hun thought to himself.

“How much time do we have before the general intervenes?” Lin asked through the private channel that was perhaps not so private.

“Focus on the readings and let Chong do his job,” Hun responded coolly, just in case they were being monitored. Hun knew that there were at least a dozen engineers with Chong at their space base, but Chong was his team member and chief engineer. He would have to figure it out… or not.

There was a slight commotion as the doors to their command center opened and General Wang walked in with some of his staff and two rather serious-looking soldiers armed to the teeth. Hun sighed and leaned forward in his chair, ready to stand when the general arrived.

“Director Lee, report,” the general commanded, his voice a booming bass tone of authority.

“Flight and docking mission objectives accomplished to date. Currently troubleshooting the detachment issue with the lander, sir,” Hun said, a tone of formality in his voice as he steadied himself after standing so abruptly.

“There will be no chance for Morning Glory to fail, is that understood?” the general asked.

“Understood, sir. We’ll find a way to separate the Morning Glory from the Crimson Glory .” Hun nodded, his arms now at his side.

“You have less than forty-eight hours. Show him.” The general nodded, and one of his aids pulled out what looked to be a picture of a star field followed by another one with a blurred space station. The Russian station, if Hun remembered what the Russian Pride looked like.

“What are these?” Hun asked.

“This is the Russian space station in route to the moon. They departed earth orbit this morning and will arrive in less than sixty-eight hours. It is imperative that Sing reach the moon’s surface before they arrive.”

Hun looked at the pictures he was given and saw both Lin and Chon looking his way, but they didn’t approach. “We will find a way, sir.”